Backyard Barter is a Seattle community where neighbors barter locally produced products. If this is your first visit to our site, welcome! Here is some basic info about who we are and how our barters work. If you are an existing website member looking for online bartering connections AND you also follow us on facebook, check out our facebook bartering group.

Thanks!Backyard Barter Team

Who we are

Backyard Barter supports homemade and homegrown bartering community in the Seattle area. We host monthly barters citywide 10-12 mo/year. Founded in 2011, we are a volunteer-run organization, and a fiscally sponsored Project of Seattle Tilth.

How to participate

Our events are casual and fun, and usually scheduled for a two-hour block. You do not need to sign up ahead, just show up with your goods. We ask that people arrive/sign in and set up their items in the first 30 minutes of the event. Followed by a little time to check out all of the product and we start bartering at ‘halftime’.

What to bring? We are focused on the homegrown and homemade. This can encompass a broad range products, and the season/number of participants influences variety. Past events have seen:

Your sign in sheet will have space for item descriptions, but some people also prepare labels and/or ingredient lists, for items such as gluten free baked goods, soap, etc, ahead of time.

How it works

The exchange value of any given item is up to each barter participant. The process is a simple one, ‘would you like to trade your (e.g. jar of blackberry jam) for my (e.g. loaf of bread)..’ or whatever you are trading. If you are bringing smaller individual type items, such as garden seeds, cherry tomatoes, chocolates or tree fruit, it is helpful to have them pre-packaged into some kind of ‘unit’. It’s fun, come join us!

images courtesy of Shiz Photography 11/9/2014 barter – Second Use Building Materials